Coffee and Wine
by autumn desiree
Summary: - Forever rewritten - Ran is now twenty-five, and living a semi-normal life. Of course, it wouldn't be a story without romantic angst, now would it?


**Coffee and Wine**

**Composed by Chiaki Nozomi**

**01 – We meet again**

**A/N: This is my old fanfic, Forever. What have I done? Basically two things – rewrite the entire fanfic with a new storyline and characters (it bears some similarities to my revised fanfic in this aspect) and a completely new style is added. Basically Forever embarrassed me. I wrote the first draft when I was 14, the rewrite when I was 16, and now that I'm 18 I find my style immature and the plot progressions juvenile. This is new enough that I am reposting it as a new story, rather than reediting the old one. I would like to thank Dark-Soul78 for inspiring me to rewrite the series thanks to her lovely review. To my old fans of this fic – I hope you enjoy the new direction it is taking! For new readers, this is basically a GALS! continuation fic. This fic (Forever) was the second GALS! fic ever uploaded to , and the first chapter fic for GALS!.  
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Ran groaned and rubbed her shoulder. Patrol duty had to be the worst of all the duties passed onto her. Not only did her feet kill her at the end of the day (inserts lasted about three days before making the pain worse) but she had to deal with punks thinking they were above the law.

Kids these days – no respect.

"I think I'll take a break," she decided suddenly and voiced her desire over the radio. Her partner okayed it and she made a beeline for the nearest Starbucks. Caffeine was always a good idea. While in line she shifted her weight, trying to keep her feet from screaming out in pain. Oh, those chairs looked delightful....

Rei almost choked on his coffee when he heard a familiar voice say, "Might as well give me a gallon jug of the stuff." He looked to the front and didn't see the curly hair that was the trademark of her. He shook his head and looked at the coffee in disdain. Perhaps the caffeine had adverse effects on memory....

"I am killing Yamato when I get to the box," Ran muttered, frowning. A break wasn't near long enough to nurse her feet back to health.

Rei's head jerked up. "Unbelievable," he muttered and stood, "Kotobuki!" Several patrons shot looks at him, then the direction he called, looking for the woman. Ran wrinkled her brow in confusion then she locked eyes with a man across the room.

She squinted, then her eyes widened in shock. "Otohata," she replied and quickly rushed to his table. The two hugged lightly and then sat and stared at each other, taking in the differences. Rei's boyish good looks matured to a manly complexion with a strong jaw line, and he let his hair grow longer than his old style, styled to that 'slightly messy but neat' look. He wore a suit, dark gray with a light gray dress shirt underneath, but no tie. So he didn't become a salary man...

Ran's hair no longer had her perm, but she kept her hair brunette, minus the red streak. Her face looked the same, only softer, more womanly. He smirked at the sight of her police uniform – everyone knew she would eventually become one – and somehow her eyes were different as well, a bit more mature and less mischievous.

"Lunch," Rei asked, and Ran shook her head.

"Break. You?"

"Lunch," he replied and took another sip of his coffee. Ran arched an eyebrow.

"You're drinking coffee for lunch?"

"You'd be surprised how long a person can survive on coffee alone," he replied with a smirk. Ran scoffed and chugged her cold latte.

"So how have you been," she asked as she put down her drink.

"Decent," he replied. One word response. Ran almost slapped him across the head. "Yourself?"

"Decent," she mocked, then grinned. "What are you doing for a living?"

"Doctor." Ran's eyes widened.

"Did you just finish school?" Rei nodded. "Specialty?"

"General practice. Right now I'm the in house company doctor at Sony's Tokyo division." Ran nodded, amazed. Sure, she expected Rei to achieve some sort of success, but she never imagined him as a doctor. Frankly, she didn't think him that intelligent – not that she didn't think him smart, but smart enough to pass med school exams.... A new respect formed for her old friend.

She grinned sheepishly, "Ironic I became the one thing I protested against, ne?" Rei chuckled.  
  
"I have to admit that it surprised me."

She nodded, "It still amazes my parents, and I've been doing it for years now. Did you ever talk to Aya after graduation?"

Rei almost glared in annoyance. "We talked for about six months and then stopped." Ran nodded.

Ran sighed in disappointment. "That's about when I stopped talking to her too. I call her occasionally, but she's always busy. Did you read her novel?"

Rei opened his mouth to ask "Which one?" but stopped. She could only be referring to "Butterfly", a story that mimicked their own lives and personalities to the point it seemed an autobiography. He had read the first couple of chapters before deciding it was a waste of time – he already shared the memories. He shook his head, "Nope."

Ran laughed, "Me neither. I felt like I was reading her diary so I stopped. I did read her other novels though. She sends me a copy before it comes out in bookstores." Rei nodded, Aya did the same for him. Ran bit her lip, wondering if she should pursue the Aya subject some more. She decided not to – Rei wasn't the type to talk more about a subject if prodded. "Heard of Blurry Moon," a nod, "Tatsuki's the owner. We don't have to pay the cover charge and get half off drinks and such," she said with a smile.

"Are you two still together?"

She shrugged, "It's off and on. I can't say that we're together, but we do go out on dates often." Rei nodded, impressed. He expected them to break it off after high school, like he and Aya. Then again, those two were part of the same mold and would probably be together until the end of time.

"So, what's up with you and Yuuya? You two keep in touch?"

"Occasionally. Ever since he married Mami it's been hard to get in touch with them. Both are always busy with work. Not that I'm free either," he amended.

Ran nodded her agreement, "Same here. I try and get us all together for a night and I can never do it. Awhile back Miyu and Yamato had a boy named Takeshi. You should go see him - he's the most adorable little thing!" Rei coughed out a chuckle, it seemed odd for Ran to be talking about cute little things. She had changed; her wild carefree attitude had calmed... Ran glared at a woman a couple of tables away who made a rude comment about the police... a bit. He halfway laughed and shook his head.

A laugh, now they were getting somewhere. "What about you? Are you attached?"

"Nope."

Ran's eyes widened. "Unbelievable. You're the one I thought would be the first to get married!" Well, technically the second, but Miyu and Yamato were destined to hitch first. Still, Rei looked like the type of guy who would have a girlfriend and take care of her until they were old and grey.

"Not exactly psychic, are you," he replied. He couldn't see why everyone around him pestered him to get a girlfriend. Right now he needed to focus on getting his name out so he could open his own clinic.

"That sarcasm still doesn't suit you," she muttered dryly.

"So it does." Ran gave a snotty look, sucked up the last of her latte, and held out her hand. Rei arched an eyebrow. "What do you want?"

Ran's jaw dropped with mock anger. "Money, of course! How else am I supposed to buy another latte?" Rei glared and Ran frowned, "Come on, Mr. Doctorman! You must be rolling in dough." Rei's eyes narrowed further, and Ran couldn't stop herself from laughing and breaking her character.

"You should've seen your face," she said between giggles, "That was grand, too grand." Rei sighed and shook his head, smiling. "Betcha miss kogals, ne? Wish you were still an idol?"

"Never again." Ran grinned, she expected that.

"Come on," she chided, "I bet you're the idol at work." Rei's groan assured her she hit the hammer on the head. She chuckled. "How many proposals a day?"

"More than enough."

She nodded, "Tell me about it. I get my share of proposals too..." Rei arched an eyebrow, doubting her. Ran stuck her tongue out. "Okay, so half of them are otaku, but I'm still quite famous," she finished with a half pout. A second later her radio went off. She picked it up, confirmed the situation and looked at Rei apologetically.

"Gotta get back now. Doing anything tonight?"

"No. Why," he asked, though he had a sneaking suspicion as to what she was going to ask.

She grinned and pulled out her cell. "Give me your number. I'll call you when I get off work and we'll work out a time." She gave a mock frown at his confused countenance. "To go to Tatsuki's club, you fool! I can call Miyu and Yamato too.

"You're going to make me go even if I deny, aren't you?" Ran grinned, Rei sighed and nodded reluctantly. "If I'm late tomorrow-"

"Don't worry! If you're so worried, I'll give you a wake up call!" Like Ran's voice would be the first thing he wanted to hear in the morning. Torture, pure torture..."Rei?"

"Hn," he said, snapping out of a reflective trance.

"Your number?" Rei gave her his number and Ran nodded with satisfaction. "I'll call you around five with the time and give you directions to my apartment. You better answer the phone, Otohata."

"Pick you up," he stated dubiously.

"How else am I going to get there," she replied, rolling her eyes, "Besides, if you pick me up then I can guarantee you'll show."

"And if I don't come?"

Ran's radio went off again and she growled at it with annoyance. She answered it with an "I'll be right there!" and turned to Rei. "I'll find you and drag you there myself," she said with a threatening voice, then smiled and waved goodbye. Rei sighed and walked out. Tonight would be a long, long night.

"Geez Kotobuki-imouto, where were you," Makoto greeted with annoyance. "I hate having to cover you over here!"

"Sorry Ogawa-san," Ran said, feigning a smile. "I saw an old friend that I haven't seen since high school and we were talking." Makoto arched an eyebrow and lowered her voice, a sign that she was dishing for gossip –

"What kind of old friend?"

Ran sighed, "Just an old friend from high school."

"Just a friend," she prodded, "You can't be 'just friends' with males. Not possible." Ran shook her head and decided to cut it short before Makoto changed her words to meeting the love of her life in Starbucks.

"Why don't you take a break and I'll cover for you," she amended. Makoto nodded, happy.

"Just what I was hoping you'd say, Kotobuki-imouto," she exclaimed, patting her coworker on the back. "And when I get back, I expect you to tell me all about this 'friend' of yours!"

Ran waved her off, giving a fake smile. "You can't talk to a guy anymore without people bugging about being together," she muttered. No way in hell could she be attracted to Rei. The guy was a cold fish in love, judging by Aya's experiences, not to mention that his personality was at the top of her "I hate" list.

Though the conversation today had to be one of the longest she's ever held with him. Ran chuckled at the thought. Maybe Tatsuki could get him to open up and let loose tonight.

"You're back late," secretary Kaori said, "Did something happen?" She looked up at Rei, worried.

Rei shook his head. "I just ran into an old friend." Kaori's eyes widened in horror.

"You ate lunch with a woman after turning me down?"

Rei was taken aback by her remark. "How could you tell I ate with a woman?" Kaori shook her head, tongue in cheek, frowning.

"I couldn't. It was a test. Your one o'clock is waiting," she said, shoving a folder at him. Rei blinked in annoyance and walked off. "Last time I invite you to lunch," she muttered as he left, watching his back and admiring his butt. She sighed, "What am I saying? He's too hot to give up on!"

Rei spent the rest of the day thinking of excuses to give Ran when she called, using some on shameless OLs who wouldn't leave him alone to judge the effectiveness. At four, he still had none. He groaned as he accepted his last patient. There would be no escaping her grasp.


End file.
